Maharashtra Opposition slams Eknath Shinde government after Gujarat bags mega Vedanta-Foxconn semiconductor project

As Gujarat bagged a mega VedantaFoxconn semiconductor project the opposition in Maharashtra on Tuesday slammed the Eknath Shindeled government for the state losing out on the Rs 154000crore venture with the Congress alleging something sinister behind the change of location and the NCP saying the plant was snatched awayIndian conglomerate Vedanta and Taiwanese electronics giant Foxconn jointly inked a Memorandum of Understanding with the Gujarat government on Tuesday in Gandhinagar to set up a semiconductor and display manufacturing unit in GujaratThe Nationalist Congress Party NCP the main opposition outfit accused the neighbouring state ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party BJP of snatching morsel from Maharashtras mouthState NCP president and former minister Jayant Patil said with the bigticket project iquestslippingiquest away from the hands of Maharashtra the state has lost an investment potential of more than Rs one lakh croreTaking an aim at Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde whose government is being supported by the BJP Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray said the Maha Vikas Aghadi MVA when it was in power had very strongly pursued this projectIt was almost decided that the plant will come up in Maharashtra said Aaditya Thackeray who served as a cabinet minister in the erstwhile MVA government headed by the Shiv SenaOur MVA government had brought this to final stage The current dispensation has lost the confidence of potential investors hence such mega projects are not coming here he saidAaditya Thackeray said the mega project would have supported 160 ancillary industries and generated 70000 to 1 lakh employment opportunitiesHe said the previous MVA government was in touch with the company and a meeting had also taken place with its representatives in January this yearThe new dispensation tweeted photos claiming to have brought this project to Maharashtra but it seems intent or commitment was to send this away from Maharashtra said Aaditya ThackerayAlso Read People not buying Eknath Shinde views on revolt most of his MLAs will face poll defeat NCPCompany officials also visited Marathwada and Vidarbha regions of Maharashtra and finally Talegaon in Pune district was identified as the possible site for the factory he saidSlamming the Shindeled dispensation which took office on June 30 the junior Thackeray said What was the government doing What was the industries minister doing On July 26 the CMO tweeted that the plant will come up in MaharashtraVedanta an oiltometals conglomerate and Taiwanese electronics manufacturing giant Foxconn will make one of the largestever investments of Rs 154 lakh crore in setting up Indias first semiconductor plant in GujaratThe 6040 joint venture of VedantaFoxconn will set up a semiconductor fabrication plant a display unit and a semiconductor assembling and testing facility on 1000 acres of land in Ahmedabad districtAs Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra do not get time from holding political meetings Gujarat has once again taken away the morsel from Maharashtras mouth With the Gujarat elections coming up the BJP in Maharashtra seems busy in safeguarding the interests of Gujarat NCP leader Patil said in a series of tweetsWill Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis apologise to the educated unemployed youth of the state for losing out on the project he askedPatil who was a senior minister in the Uddhav Thackerayled government said the Maha Vikas Aghadi MVA when in power had pursued the investment A delegation of the company JV recently met Chief Minister and Deputy CM of MaharashtraSenior Shiv Sena leader and former industries minister Subhash Desai sought to blame the Centre for the project going to GujaratThis is shocking The Centres word is important on such important investments I am also raising a question about how many such industries will go from Maharashtra to other states especially Gujarat Desai askedThe Chief Ministers Office on July 26 had tweeted iquestA delegation of Vedanta Group and Foxconn Company met Chief Minister Eknath Shinde at Mantralaya this morning Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was present on this occasionOn this occasion the Chief Minister said that Vedanta Company will be given full support for investment to promote semiconductor and display fabrication production in the state the CMO had saidDiscussions about setting up Foxconns semiconductor plant in Maharashtra were almost complete but something sinister took place which made the company shift the location to Gujarat Congress leader and former state minister Balasaheb Thorat claimedThe Foxconn plant was expected to bring investment of nearly Rs 158 lakh crore to Maharashtra Ninety per cent of our discussions regarding the plant had been completed said Thorat who was the revenue minister in the MVA governmentSomething sinister took place which made the company shift its plant from Maharashtra to Gujarat Nearly one lakh new employment opportunities would have been created with this plant he added without elaborating on the sinister chargeThorat wanted to know what CM Shinde and deputy Chief Minister Fadnavis did to keep the project in MaharashtraMaharashtra Navnirman Sena MNS chief Raj Thackeray said it needs to be probed how the state lost out on the projectThis plant was to come up at Talegaon near Pune How did a project with the potential to generate largescale employment slipped from Maharashtras hands This is a serious issue and this needs to be probed thoroughly Maharashtra was the priority state for investors and investment going away from the state like this is not a good sign This has to be considered by going beyond politics Raj Thackeray tweetedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove 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